so to speak

S s

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [soh too speek]
- /soʊ tu spik/
- /ˈsəʊ tuː spiːk/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [soh too speek]
- /soʊ tu spik/

Definitions of so to speak words

verb without object so to speak to utter words or articulate sounds with the ordinary voice; talk: He was too ill to speak. 1
verb without object so to speak to communicate vocally; mention: to speak to a person about various matters. 1
verb without object so to speak to converse: She spoke with him for an hour. 1
verb without object so to speak to deliver an address, discourse, etc.: to speak at a meeting. 1
verb without object so to speak to make a statement in written or printed words. 1
verb without object so to speak to communicate, signify, or disclose by any means; convey significance. 1

See all 26 definitions of so to speak

Information block about the term

Origin of so to speak

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; Middle English speken, Old English specan, variant of sprecan; cognate with German sprechen (Old High German sprehhan; compare variant spehhan)

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for So to speak

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of So to speak

so to speak popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 99% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

so to speak usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for so to speak

conj so to speak

as if — You use as if and as though when you are giving a possible explanation for something or saying that something appears to be the case when it is not.
as it were — You say as it were in order to make what you are saying sound less definite.
as though — You use as if and as though when you are giving a possible explanation for something or saying that something appears to be the case when it is not.

All 3 Synonyms of so to speak